Judge Lee H. Rosenthal
U.S. District Judge, Southern District of Texas, and Chair, Judicial Conference
Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure

Kenneth A. Gary, JD
Associate Publisher,
The National Law Journal

Federal Rule of Evidence 502, signed into law in September 2008, provides protections to parties with privileged information who unintentionally disclose privileged material. Tied, in part, to issues that arise during electronic discovery, the measure seeks to reduce litigation costs typically arising in the process of privilege review and production. The rule establishes a presumption against subject matter waiver, resolves the issue of inadvertent disclosure, provides for confidentiality orders and supports party agreements, among other issues.

Please join Professor Capra, principal author of Rule 502, and Jude Rosenthal, who shepherded it through Congress, for a discussion of these standards for waiver of attorney-client privilege.